RACING EXPERIENCE EXTENDS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AFTER DOUBLE PODIUM IN THE STREETS OF NUREMBERG
Monday, July 10th 2023, Wormeldange-Haut
Last weekend the fourth round of the of the Prototype Cup Germany took place on the Norisring – a street circuit in Nuremberg. It was the first time ever that Prototype Cars were running on this extraordinary circuit, thus this weekend was full of uncertainties. Racing Experience entered again two Duqueine D08 LMP3, #15 with the championship leaders Gary Hauser and Markus Pommer and the #12 car of both bronze drivers Kevin Rohrscheidt and Wolfgang Payr.
A highlight of the weekend was again, that the Prototype Cup Germany was a support series of the DTM with more than 102.000 visitors coming during the weekend to follow the racing action.
On Friday morning the racing action should start early in the morning and was delayed due to communication issues from Race Control to the Marshals on track. The problems were solved and the two free practice sessions went well for both cars, gathering important data to adjust the setup and the pilots were able to improve their lap times consistently.
A tight schedule meant that Q1 was already planned for Friday evening when Markus sat in the car and qualified the #15 in P2, only 0,1 seconds behind P1, leaving his direct championship contenders behind. #12 qualified last in P14.
Q2 took place on Saturday morning and Gary was ready to hit the track for #15. Due to traffic on the very short track, he only managed to qualify in P4. #12 qualified again in P14.
Race 1, that Markus should start on P2 on Saturday, showed everyone already in the formation laps, that this bumpy street circuit demands a high concentration and does not allow any mistakes, as the car of Alex Cascatau was bottoming on a bump and hit the wall in a very hard impact. The whole team wishes him a good recovery!
With more than 30 degrees the delay of the session was challenging for the team and the pilots, as the heat was energy-sapping. The belated start of the race then went well for #15 and Markus could hold P2 after the infamous first corner of the Norisring. A perfect pitstop and driver change to Gary put the car into P1, as the team in front lost time during the pitstop. Gary was able to do consistent laptimes and finished the race in P1. Car #12 finished in P12.
Race 2 was scheduled for Sunday afternoon when the heat was even worse than the day before. Gary for #15 took the start in P4 and was directly able to put himself into P3. He was driving with a good pace, when a small mistake put him back into P6. After a driver change to Markus and several pitstop infringements of other teams, he was back into P4, trying to catch the podium position in front. A battle of the leading cars resulted in an incident, which was why Markus was able to put himself into P3, only less than a second behind P2. Battling until the last second, he finished the race in P3, bringing another podium and important points for the championship home, as the championship contenders finished again behind. Car #12 with Wolfgang Payr and Kevin Rohrscheidt finished in P9.
The #15 car with Gary Hauser and Markus Pommer extended now the Championship lead to 31 points with 140 points in total. Behind on P2 is van ommen racing by Datalab with 115 points and the luxembourgish team of DKR Engineering in third position with 101 points.
Christian Hauser, Racing Experience Team Owner, said, “The Norisring is known for hard street racing in the DTM and we did not know what to expect before the weekend, as Prototype Cars never raced here before. Our aim was to fight for the championship and finish every race without damage or DNF. Our team did an amazing job with P1 and P3 for #15 and #12 was able to improve every session!”
Markus Pommer, Driver #15 Racing Experience said, “The team did a great job and our setup was really good to drive on these bumpy streets at the Norisring. I was able to put the car into P2 in qualifying, so our overall pace was great. Our race win and the podium is well deserved and I am happy to fight for the title!”
Gary Hauser, Driver #15 Racing Experience said, “The track demands a high concentration and I did a small mistake in Race 2. I am sure that we could have won the race again on Sunday, but we managed to grab P3 on Sunday after the race win on Saturday. It was challenging but fun to drive in Nuremberg, but we are now looking forward to Assen in September, where I raced two times last year!”
Wolfgang Payr, Driver #12 Racing Experience said, “This track is very technical and it is all about the details as the walls are very close. I did very good improvements and I get more and more used to the car every session. Thanks to the team again for their amazing work!”
Kevin Rohrscheidt, Driver #12 Racing Experience said, “A special weekend here in the city of Nuremberg and it was fun to see all the fans. I need to improve my technique even further, but I feel very comfortable in the car. A special thanks goes to my engineers and the whole team for giving me a lot of confidence the whole weekend!”
The next race of the season will take place on 01-03th september at the TT Circuit in Assen.
All races of the season will be live broadcasted on YouTube as well as on adac.de/motorsport.
The full calendar of the season can be found on racing-experience.lu. Stay updated by following Racing Experience on social media (Instagram: @racingexperience.lux and Facebook).